Lehtonen posts second shutout

Thrashers tip Lightning, 1-0

Kari Lehtonen had 34 saves in his second consecutive shutout, and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored a first-period goal as the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1-0, last night in Tampa, Fla.

Lehtonen, coming off a 6-0 win over Florida Saturday, has five career shutouts. He has surrendered two goals in three games this season.

Kozlov put Atlanta ahead, 1-0, from the right circle at 12:26 of the first. The goal came after Tampa Bay defenseman Paul Ranger mishandled the puck in the Lightning zone.

Marc Denis made 19 saves for Tampa Bay, which has lost two straight at home.

Lehtonen stopped three shots -- including an in-close chance by Martin St. Louis -- during a 5-on-3 power play that lasted two minutes in the second. He also made a strong glove save on Vinny Prospal's shot right after the man advantage ended.

Sharks 4, Flames 1 -- Vesa Toskala made 29 saves, and visiting San Jose got goals from four scorers to remain unbeaten in the young season.

Coming off a shutout victory Saturday over the Islanders with Evgeni Nabokov in net, San Jose coach Ron Wilson went back to opening night goaltender Toskala. The move paid off as Toskala's only mistake came on Alex Tanguay's first Flames goal with three minutes remaining in the game.

The Blues, who had the NHL's worst record last season, have dropped a club-record 12 straight road games. They will take an 0-3 record into their home opener Thursday.

Blue Jackets 5, Coyotes 1 -- Nikolai Zherdev proved preseason workouts are overrated by scoring two goals and leading host Columbus. Zherdev missed all of preseason camp and the club's first two games, arriving in Columbus Sunday from his native Russia after ironing out visa problems.

He scored on the power play just 1:01 in and added another when he jammed in Rick Nash's shot midway through the second period to make it 3-1.

Maple Leafs 2, Panthers 1 -- Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker scored in a shootout and host Toronto overcame 47 saves from Alex Auld to beat Florida. Kyle Wellwood scored and Andrew Raycroft made 24 saves for the Maple Leafs, who lost in a shootout to Montreal Saturday.

Toronto defenseman Pavel Kubina had to be helped off the ice late in the third after Todd Bertuzzi's knee collided with his. Toronto signed Kubina to a $20-million, four-year deal in the offseason.